1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to shift lever units for automotive automatic transmissions, and more particularly to shift lever units of a type which is equipped with a shift position indicator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to clarify the task of the present invention, one conventional shift lever unit will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 of the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIG. 8, the conventional shift lever unit comprises a shift lever 51 which is pivotally supported by a support structure 46a secured to a base plate 46. The base plate 46 is tightly mounted on a vehicle floor (not shown) and has a housing structure mounted thereon, which structure includes generally a pair of U-shaped supporting brackets 45 and a shift lever position indicating device 40.
The position indicating device 40 comprises a stepped cover structure 41 of opaque plastic, which is mounted on the paired U-shaped supporting brackets 45 and formed with an elongate slot 41b through which the shift lever 51 extends.
As is understood from Pig. 7, the cover structure 41 is provided beside the elongate slot 41b with a transparent elongate part 41a which extends along the slot 41b. The transparent elongate part 41a comprises an elongate position plate 43 integrally molded with the cover structure 41. The position plate 43 is constructed of a transparent plastic, such as acrylate resin or the like, and has at a lower surface thereof engraved position marks 42, such as, "1", "2", "D", "N", "R" and "P". The engraved marks 42 are filled with white paint.
The lower surface of the position plate 43 is entirely coated with dark paint 43a except six limited portions 42a which are respectively located beside the position marks 42, as is seen from FIG. 8.
As is seen from FIG. 7, the position plate 43 has an inwardly projected portion 43b which is directed toward an electric lamp 52 mounted in a lamp housing secured to the cover structure 41. The position plate 43 has further a light reflecting surface 43c at a junction portion between the major part thereof and the inwardly projected portion 43b. Thus, upon energization of the lamp 52, the light emitted from the lamp 52 enters the position plate 43 from the inwardly projected portion 43b and is reflected by the light reflecting surface 43c toward the graved position marks 42. Thus, the position marks 42 are illuminated from within.
The position indicating device further comprises a pointer 44 which is colored red and movable together with the shift lever 51 along a given way which is defined below and along the aligned six limited transparent portions 42a. That is, when the shift lever 51 is moved to a certain position, for example, to the "reverse position" of the associated transmission, the pointer 44 assumes one paintless limited portion 42a which is located beside the position mark "R". Thus, the red color of the pointer 44 is viewed through the paintless limited portion 42a and thus the driver can easily recognize the position which the shift lever 51 has just assumed.
As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of electric wires 49 extend from known electric devices mounted within the housing structure. These wires 49 are bundled into several groups each having an electric connector 50 connected thereto. The wires 49 are held by a resin-coated metal clip 47 which is welded to the base plate 46. That is, by bending the clip 47, the wire holding is achieved.
However, the above-mentioned conventional shift lever unit has the following drawbacks due to its inherent construction.
First, since the position plate 43 has an upper surface largely exposed to the outside of the cover structure 41, direct rays of the sun toWard the cover structure 41 causes a great reflection of the rays on the largely exposed upper surface of the position plate 43. This makes the recognition of the position marks and the pointer by the driver very difficult.
Second, upon energization of the electric lamp 52, part of the light rays from the lamp 52 reaches directly the pointer 44 without travelling within the position plate 43. This causes an extreme dazzling of the pointer 44.
Third, because the upper surface of the position plate 43 is largely exposed to the open air, the same is liable to flaw and crack due to increased possibility of being rubbed by something. This lowers the external appearance of the position plate 43 and thus that of the shift lever unit.